Formula fuels El Paso Hyundai dealer Oscar Leeser's success

Oscar Leeser, co-owner of Hyundai of El Paso and a 33-year veteran of the car business, has taken the El Paso dealership from selling 15 new and used cars a month when he and his two Florida partners took over the East Side dealership in August 2001 to being the top-selling Hyundai dealer in Texas.
(Rudy Gutierrez / El Paso Times)

"Honesty is the best policy" is not a cliché for Oscar Leeser -- it's his formula for success.

"I've always told people that you will succeed if you are honest. And that's the biggest thing I try to teach my guys -- to be honest and work hard," Leeser said last week as he sat in a conference room above his Hyundai of El Paso showroom. "You have to give someone an honest and fair deal."

That philosophy -- coupled with Leeser's community involvement, including getting Hyundai three years ago to become sponsor of the annual Sun Bowl football game, which will be played next week -- has worked.

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Vic Kolenc

Leeser, 54, a 33-year veteran of the car business, has taken the dealership from selling 15 new and used cars a month when he and his two Florida partners took over the East Side dealership in August 2001 to being the top-selling Hyundai dealer in Texas and in an 11-state region for several years and among Hyundai's top 10 dealers in the nation.

Hyundai has 154 dealers in its South Central region, including 61 in Texas. The South Korean car manufacturer has 822 dealers in the United States.

This year, Hyundai of El Paso also became the top seller among 17 new car dealer locations in El Paso, according to the El Paso Association of New Car Dealers.

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Leeser expects Hyundai of El Paso, of which he is president and co-owner, to sell about 3,400 new and 1,230 used cars this year. It sold 2,904 new and 965 used cars last year, he said.

"About 13 percent of vehicles sold in El Paso are Hyundais, and that is tremendous," said Tom Hetrick, general manager of Hyundai Motor America's South Central Region, based in Dallas. "He (Leeser) is quite the salesman. He sells me all the time," and he sold Hyundai executives on the idea of sponsoring the Sun Bowl, he said.

The four-year sponsorship began in 2010, and Leeser said he's already working on getting Hyundai to renew the sponsorship when it expires after the 2013 game. This year's game on New Year's Eve features the University of Southern California and Georgia Tech.

"The Sun Bowl has been the neatest deal I have done in my life. It's not just December 31 at noon. It's a year-round commitment to your community," said Leeser, who daily wears a shirt with the Hyundai Sun Bowl logo. His sales staff also wear shirts with the logo.

The dealership pays for some sponsorship responsibilities -- the halftime show and a pre-game tailgate party --and provides 40 new cars for members of the teams' staffs to drive while in El Paso, Leeser said.

Hetrick said Hyundai of El Paso's success is due in part to Leeser and his dealership's community involvement. The success also comes from Leeser's business acumen, and his dealership's strong marketing, including its popular "Oscar is such a good boy" TV commercials featuring Leeser's 82-year-old mother, he said.

"He'd be successful anywhere, but he chooses El Paso because that is where his heart is, and it shows," Hetrick said.

It also helps that Hyundai is a growing brand. This year, it broke its annual U.S. sales record, set in 2011, by selling 645,691 vehicles by Dec. 5, Hyundai Motor America reported.

The brand, which hit the U.S. market in 1986, grew by offering low-priced cars. In 1998, it added a 10-year, 100,000 power-train warranty to counter concerns about the brand's quality.

Hetrick agreed with Leeser that having customers' trust is important for sales success.

"El Paso is a big town with a small-town feel, and everyone (seems to) know each other. So, if you get a bad reputation, you can't be successful. It has earned respect and business" from El Pasoans, he said.

Martha Tavarez, an El Paso teacher, said the dealership has gained her trust, and that's one reason she's purchased seven new Hyundais there over the years.

"I have no reason not to trust them. They have been really good to me," she said. "I just love the atmosphere. They are not pushy. They are very personable, very upbeat." She also likes Hyundais, she said.

Tavarez said she met Leeser years ago when he was walking around the showroom talking to customers. One time, she asked to talk to him when she was debating whether to buy an SUV.

"He sat down and talked to me. He was very helpful," she said.

Leeser said he makes a point of walking through the showroom daily to talk to customers. He also keeps a close eye on things from his second-floor office overlooking the showroom -- an office he shares with Larry, his cackling African gray parrot.

That doesn't mean Leeser doesn't trust his managers to do their jobs. Most of his managers have been with the dealership for all or a big portion of the 11 years he's operated the dealership, he said.

"I like being 100 percent involved in what I do, and I like being here every day" when not traveling, Leeser said. He frequently travels to meetings for several Hyundai-tied boards he sits on, including Hyundai Hope on Wheels, which funds childhood cancer research and programs.

Hector Barreras, 38, the dealership's new car sales manager, has worked there 11 years. He started as a salesman.

Barreras isn't part of Leeser's real family. But several members of Leeser's family are among the 136 employees in what Leeser proudly labels a "family business."

His brother, sister, son, daughter, son-in-law, two nephews and 86-year-old father work there. His mother is the long-time star of the dealership's TV commercials.

"We're a small business with a family twist," Leeser said. "I love that my kids and everyone in my family have a place to go every day."

Leeser's father, Arthur Leeser, said he taught his son how to take care of a business when his son worked in his furniture business while in Coronado High School. Arthur Leeser left the furniture business years ago and has worked with his son in several dealerships as Oscar Leeser built his car industry career. The elder Leeser was a warranty manager at Hyundai of El Paso and now calls himself a file clerk.

His son's outgoing personality, his knowledge of his products and taking care of employees so they take care of customers have made his business successful, Arthur Leeser said last week as he stood in the dealership's year-old showroom.

A year ago the dealership moved from its cramped, original facility into the more spacious former El Paso Fire Department headquarters next door at 8600 Montana. The Fire Department has kept its vehicle maintenance facility at the rear of the dealership's remodeled showroom and service department. The old Hyundai facility is now the dealership's used car center.

"He snubs no one. He'll talk to anyone," the elder Leeser said of his son. But there's one sure way to lose his son's friendship, he added.

"He doesn't like people who lie to him."

Vic Kolenc may be reached at vkolenc@elpasotimes.com; 546-6421. Follow him on Twitter @vickolencMore information: hyundaiofelpaso.com